Book picks similar to
Wicked Woods by Kailin Gow


med-sm-200-300
read-past
romance
ya-fantasy

Cipher


Cindi Madsen - 2013
    She attempts to live a normal life by focusing on the dance team and her quarterback boyfriend. But then the way-too-cheery Angel of Death shows up and tells her she’s a Cipher—a person chosen to help people who are going to die resolve problems with their loved ones. Ashlyn Moore, one of Summer’s classmates, is going to die, and she needs Summer’s help before that happens.It’s nearly impossible to get through to Ashlyn, who surrounds herself with chess nerds and geeks and makes it clear she doesn’t want to be friends. Desperate to complete her Cipher task before it’s too late, Summer turns to Troy, the guy who’s always been there for her and one of the few people she can trust. With his help, she makes progress. In fact, the closer she gets to Ashlyn and her friends, the more she feels like she’s finally found where she belongs. As the clock starts running down on Ashlyn’s life, Summer decides to change her objective. She’s going to save her new friend before it’s too late—even if it means messing with fate.

Dragonbound


Chelsea M. Campbell - 2016
    George—of the dragon-slaying St. George dynasty—has the brains and bloodline that define her family’s legacy, but she’s never been good at following in their footsteps. She doesn’t have the powerful magic every St. George is born with or the sword-wielding skills of the paladins—like her sister, Celeste—who bravely combat their fire-breathing foes. Even worse, a past tragedy has left Virginia with a crippling fear of dragons…and facing arranged marriage to an aging nobleman eager for heirs. But when Celeste is kidnapped by an infamous dragon clan, Virginia must make a daring rescue and defy the fear that has tormented her for years.Virginia can’t do it alone, and her only ally is the notorious criminal she’s freed from her family’s dungeon. Who better to guide her into the dragons’ lair than one of their own? To save her flesh and blood, Virginia will risk her life—even if her first quest proves her final undoing.

Keeper of the Forest


D.K. Holmberg - 2014
    She’s wasted months searching the massive palace garden for a flower that will let her join her sisters in lessons to learn the secret language of flowers. Each day the Mistress of Flowers finds some reason to refuse, all while her sisters found theirs easily, a fact they love to throw in her face. When she finally finds a strange flower that satisfies the stern Mistress of Flowers, Eris is told she needs to learn more about the flower before she can join the lessons, leaving her spending more days searching the garden. At least now she has Terran, a handsome young gardener, for company. Then, while her father’s men fight a war in the north and with her oldest sister planning her wedding with the Saffra prince, Eris discovers the Mistress of Flowers might be more than she realized. After overhearing her father’s magi advisor, she begins to suspect the Mistress of Flowers is a flower mage who intends to use the garden in a plot against the kingdom. Eris soon learns the threat against the kingdom is deeper than she suspected and now she might be the only one able to save it from destruction, if only she can learn to use her own magic in time.

Shimmerspell


Kimberly Spencer - 2011
    They're vicious. And worse, they're after her. With the help of Liam Casey, she delves into their world to find her missing sister and begins to suspect that her whole life has been nothing more than a faerie tale.But what if the truth is worse?Shimmerspell is a fast paced novella, 22,000 words, 88 pages in paperback.

Tempestuous


Kim Askew - 2012
    When the worst winter storm of the season causes mall workers and last-minute shoppers to be snowed-in for the night, Miranda seizes the opportunity to get revenge against the catty clique behind her social exile. With help from her delightfully dweeby coworker, Ariel, and a sullen loner named Caleb who works at the mall’s nearby gaming and magic shop, Miranda uses charm and trickery to set things to right during this spirited take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Immurement


Norma Hinkens - 2016
    The hunt for humankind begins. The year is 2069. Sixteen-year-old Derry and her brother live in perpetual fear of capture. They survive underground on a post-apocalyptic earth overrun by gangs and clones, and hunted overhead by mysterious hoverships. When her brother goes missing, Derry’s only hope of finding him is to strike a deal with a group of cutthroat subversives. Desperate to save her only sibling, she leads a daring raid to uncover the secrets behind the Sweepers’ hoverships, but she soon finds out the world she knows is a lie. Keeping her brother alive may require trusting her enemy and opening her heart to someone scarcely human. Immurement is the first book in The Undergrounders Series, a sci-fi dystopian thriller trilogy with a gritty heroine and twists you won’t see coming!

Silver Moon


Amanda Lynn - 2018
    One that some vampires would kill her for.Problem is...she doesn't know it yet.Riley was a normal twenty-four-year-old girl. She lived in the city, worked as a private investigator, and went home each night alone. All that changes with one missing person's case.On the hunt for a missing girl, she's thrown into a world of supernaturals she never imagined existed. And with the discovery of her unique ability, her life is now in danger.Luckily, she has two new men in her life who are desperate to keep her safe. Lucian, a vampire with devastatingly good looks and old school charm. And Aiden, her new live-in werewolf bodyguard with his boy-next-door appeal and laid-back attitude. But will they be enough to protect her?With people continuing to disappear around the city, it's becoming obvious there's something bigger going on...something none of them could have anticipated.As Riley tries to navigate the ever-growing threat against her life, her deepening feelings for Lucian, and the idea that maybe she never was normal after all, she's beginning to wonder if she'll survive this.And to top it all off, she still has a missing person's case to solve.

Harper


Viola Rivard - 2018
    An anthropologist by trade and a questioner by nature, she wants to find out who he is and how he's managed to do what no other alpha has―unite the entire shifter population of Appalachia. What she finds is a man that exceeds her wildest expectations. Handsome, brilliant, and unaccustomed to being denied, Shan is soon captivated by Harper, who is every bit as enigmatic as he is. Shan knows there are things Harper isn't telling him. Her life is a carefully constructed facade and for all his cunning, he can't figure her out. As he chips away at her mask, his instincts urge him to claim her as his own. Harper is a full-length novel, approximately 300 pages long. It is part of the Shifters of Appalachia universe. Enjoy Destined as a standalone novel series, or see the author page for a reading order.

Untethered


Katie Hayoz - 2013
    In fact, there are times she can’t even manage to stay inside it. Junior year is off to a less than stellar start for Sylvie: Her parents are splitting up, her little brother is sitting at her lunch table, and she’s the target of the school bully. Plus, she accidentally astral projects, slipping out of her body again and again at all the worst times. Sylvie is cast as the class freak and a medical misfit. She wishes she were somewhere else. Someone else. But it's only when her best friend catches the attention of the boy Sylvie's loved in secret since the fifth grade that Sylvie makes up her mind to do something drastic. Sylvie intends to get Kevin by any means possible -- even if it involves treachery, deceit, and the dark side of the paranormal. After years of trying to ignore her ability to astral project, Sylvie finally decides to embrace it. But she also decides to embrace the shadows that accompany her on her out-of-body experiences. Opening herself up to the shadows and their evil, Sylvie comes up with a malicious plan. She is positive her scheme will give her what she wants, but she doesn’t count on it all spiraling out of control.Untethered by Katie Hayoz explores the intoxicating and dangerous world of jealousy and obsession when coupled with paranormal ability. It is a touching, sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking novel that speaks to the self-doubt lurking in us all. ****Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion ***Runner up in the Mslexia Children's and YA Novel Competition.

Legacies


Mercedes Lackey - 2010
    There she learns she is a legacy—not only to the school, which her parents also attended, but to magic.All the students at Oakhurst have magical powers, and although Spirit’s hasn’t manifested itself yet, the administrators insist she has one. Spirit isn’t sure she cares. Devastated by the loss of her family, she finds comfort with a group of friends: Burke Hallows, Lachlann Spears, Muirin Shae, and Adelaide Lake.But something strange is going on at Oakhurst. Students start disappearing under mysterious circumstances, and the school seems to be trying to cover it up. Spirit and her friends must find out what’s happening—before one of them becomes the next victim…

Lyrics & Curses


Candace Robinson - 2020
    Her trendy, party-loving twin sister and her mother-come-lately Beth, who’s suddenly sworn off men and onto homemaking, don’t understand her love of cassette tapes, her loathing of the pop scene, or her standoffish personality. For outcast Lark, nothing feels as much like a real home as working at Bubble’s Oddities store and trying to attract the attention of the cute guy who works at the Vinyl shop next door—the same one she traded lyrical notes with in class.Auden Ellis silences the incessant questions in his own head with a steady stream of beats. Despite the unconditional love of his aunt-turned-mother, he can’t quit thinking about the loss of his parents—or the possibility he might end up afflicted with his father’s issues. Despite his connection with lyric-loving Lark, Auden keeps her at arm’s length because letting her in might mean giving her a peek into something dangerous.When two strangers arrive in town, one carrying a mysterious, dark object and the other playing an eerie flute tune, Lark and Auden find that their painful pasts have enmeshed them in a cursed future. Now, they must come to terms with their budding attraction while helping each other challenge the reflection they see in the mirror. If they fail, they’ll be trapped for eternity in a place beyond reality.*Set in 1985 and full of nostalgia! Perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Pretty in Pink!

The Bringer


Samantha Towle - 2011
    Max was her next job. She got his name just before he died and it was for her to lead his soul to heaven. She was a Bringer. Then Max started pleading (as they often do), but not for himself, for his son, James. Would she look after him, would she comfort him as he grieved for the loss of his father? James was a sensitive young man. He would take his father's death very hard. Well, Bringers don't do that sort of thing; their exclusive role is to usher souls to heaven. They are not allowed to get involved in earthly affairs. However, when she saw James, she felt something she had never felt before - an emotion, a shock. She was a Bringer. Bringers do not have emotions. Yet she couldn't help herself. She found herself being drawn inexorably towards James and his life, against every instinct she had ever had, against every law of the universe. And she fell in love. For a Bringer, that is a terrifying fall.

Fire in the Woods


Jennifer M. Eaton - 2014
    But David’s not here to find a girlfriend. He’s from another planet, and if Jess can’t help him get back to his ship, he’ll be stuck on Earth with nothing to look forward to but the pointy end of a dissection scalpel. But her father runs their house like an army barracks. and with an alien on the loose, Major Dad isn’t too keen on the idea of Jess going anywhere. Ever. So how the heck is she supposed to help the sweetest, strangest, and cutest guy she’s ever met? Hiding him in her room probably isn’t the best idea. Especially since her Dad is in charge of the squadron searching for David. That doesn’t mean she won’t do it. It just means she can't get caught. Helping David get home while protecting her heart—that’s gonna be the hard part. After all, she can't really fall for a guy whose not exactly from here. As they race through the woods with Major Dad and most of the U.S. military one breath behind them, Jess and David grow closer than either of them anticipated. But all is not what it seems. David has a genocide-sized secret, and one betrayal later, they are both in handcuffs as alien warships are positioning themselves around the globe. Time is ticking down to Armageddon, and Jess must think fast if she's to save the boy she cares about without sacrificing Earth—and everyone on it. FIRE IN THE WOODS is Star-Crossed meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind!

The Choosing


Jeremy Laszlo - 2012
    His life no longer in his hands, he fears an uncertain future where the only certainty is a life of servitude to the kingdom. Fortunately for Seth, he is not alone. His brother Garret too attends the choosing ceremony where their fates will be decided. Together the twins make their way to the castle city of Valdadore for the choosing ceremony but along the way Seth notices a strange new trend in his life. Time after time strange circumstances befall him in what others might call a coincidence, but Seth knows something else is amiss and begins mentally cataloging each new and strange event. Learning his past is all a lie, Seth begins to fear more for his future as a dark goddess vies for his service to her cause. Seths loyalties and responsibilities begin to stack up as he makes friends and allies and even falls in love, but with the choosing ceremony growing ever nearer will he be forced to flee the kingdom into a life of exile, or choose to serve the goddess who swears that only through her will he find peace.

Damned if I Do


Erin Hayes - 2015
    Yet, even with the help of a hot amnesiac vampire named Jude, I’ve had zero luck.Until now. And it could change everything. Even though I grew up in a family that hunted the supernatural, there were still things I didn’t believe in.Now I have to hurry for the slim chance that I could save us all. Because when you fight against immortal vampires, you’re the one who’s running out of time.